After the discovery of Juventus midfielder Nicolò Fagioli’s betting activity, the same source is now reporting that the former AC Milan man Sandro Tonali also is involved in the scandal.
The reports about Fagioli first broke in mainstream media yesterday and as reported by Corriere della Sera this morning, the Juventus man has admitted to betting on football games but not his own. If found guilty by the FIGC Prosecutor, he could get a ban of up to three years.
According to Fabrizio Corona, the man who first broke the news about Fagioli in recent months, the former Milan midfielder Sandro Tonali and the former Roma winger Nicolo Zaniolo are also involved in the betting scandal (via Calcio e Finanza). How they have breached the rules, however, has not been reported yet.
Update: It is now official.
Milan sold Tonali to Newcastle in the summer for a fee of around €70m and subsequently won’t have to deal with the matter. It remains to be seen if the investigation will find him guilty or not, as the allegations remain reports for now.
Wtf
Dummies. They get paid millions already and they risk losing that because they wanna bet like the people that watch them play.
I can understand why they isn’t allowed to bet on their own clubs matches but im kinda missing the point on why they cant bet on other clubs matches but rules is rules and i agree its really dumb of anyone risking it all for propably fairly small ammounts compared to their salaries and potentially ruining their careers by such actions.
Because it’s also about standings, goals scored, goals received, points total, etc. You can bet on other clubs and then influence those things based on how you play for your club even if it’s not in a game against the club you’re betting on (or against).
No offense vero but that explantion doesnt really make any sense to me as long bets doesnt affect players own matches. rules is nevetheless rules and should be abided.
Yes, but like it’s been said further down in this thread, there is always the possibility that you coordinate with someone else from another club (in this case, allegedly there are 3 players involved, from 3 different clubs). So, let’s say, this week you bet on another player’s club to lose, and that player throws the game for you. Then next week, you don’t bet on your team, but you throw your own game, and that buddy of yours from the other team then bets that your team will lose. See how this could work even if you never bet on your team to draw or lose? Therefore, the rules must curb ALL betting on your own discipline, not just bets on your own games for your team to draw or lose. The rules are correct.
Maybe there is another reason for this, they recently banned all the betting sponsors starting 26/27 like are they trying to convert EPL into a complete TV-PG product. But I don’t understand the issue with betting on other club games.
That does make sense then Luigi.
Let’s say you’ve placed a bet that Juventus will fail to win their next match against Verona, who is in 14th place. Juventus is in 4th place. You play for Atalanta. You are in 5th place, 3 points behind Juventus. Atalanta plays on Saturday, Juventus on Sunday. You play poorly during your game, giving the ball away in your area, which causes your opposition to score a goal, and Atalanta loses the match. Juventus now has less pressure to win their match tomorrow, because they’re still 3 points above you with a game in hand. They play their game, and only draw. You’ve won a lot of money.
Luigi’s example is great.
Doki Im not really a fan of betting myself and especially not advertisements as some people has serious gambling issues so i wont oppose them getting banned from stadiums or tv for that matter.
Vero yup got it by now 😀
@Luigi Good explanation, so it’s kind of similar to insider trading. Recently, Juve midfielder Fagioli also faced similar allegations.
Me too, I also agree with them banning betting sponsors, but there are still loopholes in this. They have banned players from betting on matches, but at the same time they have an agreement with club owners allowing them to participate in betting on matches, a perfect example for this would be Brighton and Brentford’s owners.
Jeff plays for A and Bob plays for B. Jeff bets on B game and Bob bets on A game. Jeff and Bob know each other…. Now see why it’s not allowed?
The bit dumbed down version but also makes sense then, my head couldnt really grasp the issue at first but now i see the light 😀
Yes true Milanista how dare we sell him LOL
And you dare to call others fake fans with this kind of comment? What has this fan base of Milan become…
Woah! as much as I love Tonali, I have to say that we might have just dodged a bullet by selling him to Newcastle
It seems like this investigation is just in the beginning. Who knows who will be in the news next. More worrisome is that Serie A might be facing yet another scandal. It seems like every 3-4 years Serie A has some kind of scandal where players are banned, or clubs are deducted points or something. It’s not good for the league and it harms all clubs in the long run.
Well said.
Social media praising the visionary Garry Cardinale right now.
He canned Maldini, who according to Maldini’s fans would have kept Tonali and who also wanted to spend 30 mil on Zaniolo last January.
So was Tonali running away this summer when he pushed for the Newcastle transfer or we still believe that he was forced out?
The mental gymnastics to somehow link this to Maldini is quite incredible and his firing. Absolutely incredible
If Maldini wasn’t fired and had his way Tonali would have still been Milan player and Zaniolo would have been bought for 30 mil and be a Milan player right now.
That means Milan would have been out of the 70 mil they got from Tonali sale and 30 mil for the Zaniolo purchase..
100 mil in a hole and the 2 players in question probably suspended and not allowed to play.
They were all linked with Milan thru Maldini, be that staying at the club or coming to the club, until he got fired.
What’s so Incredible about it?
Oh you meant in that way. Sorry I misread. I thought u meant was the allegations had to do with Maldini but yea I get your point. I don’t think he was forced out though but probably pushed towards a certain direction
Without selling tonali their base budget only 35m euro , thats still enough buy zaniolo and find as many loan player. Probably starter 4231 maybe : maignan ( gk ) . Back four are : theo ( lb ) , thiaw & tomori ( cb ) , calabria ( rb ) . Double pivot : tonali & krunic . 3 player behind striker : leao ( LW) , CDK ( AMF ) , Zaniolo ( RW) . Striker : giroud. But if tonali & zaniolo got 3 years banned then goodbye season Another season to be throwing out , lucky we dodge this prediction
Holy cow! But let’s keep in mind that this is alleged, not proven yet. Innocent until proven guilty. Tonali is a big idol of mine and my Scudetto jersey is personalized with his name and number. If true, how disappointing! I’ll need another Milan jersey.
Well Sandro is the one who came to the authorities with Zaniolo to speak about it. Both left Italy in quite a hurry….says a lot
Morally speaking, if you bet on random games, not your own team, and/or if you do not bet that your team will draw or lose, or on combination of results that require your team to draw or lose, you’re not likely involved in some shady money-making scam in which you’d try to screw your own team to obtain the winning bet. However, this is not how the authorities see it. It is illegal to place ANY betting money on the discipline you practice. So, if this is proven, regardless of what kind of bet these people allegedly placed, they will likely be punished. I don’t see how leaving Italy would change that. If the FIGC sanctions them with a ban, likely the other federations will follow, and UEFA. Apparently the guy who denounced it said he will present proof to the Procura di Torino and the Procura FIGC “sui calciatori coninvolti” – see that he used the plural, so it’s not just proof against Fagiolo.
In any case, even if Tonali only placed bets on random games, this is EXTREMELY stupid for a professional footballer to do. At the very least, there is the appearance of impropriety, the possibility of punishment, and a PR hit. These people make millions; why do they need to risk it all by doing something as stupid???
If this is confirmed and Tonali gets punished, yes, we will have dodged a bullet. Let’s say he gets a 1-year ban. We’d have him as inactive and he’d be losing market value. Instead, we sold him for 70 million euro.
In any case, if Tonali bet that his team would lose, then I will no longer be a fan of his. If Tonali bet on random games or bet that his team would win, I will not rule him out as someone I admire but will be very disappointed at his stupidity and recklessness. If he is innocent and not proven guilty then I’ll continue to be his unrestricted fan.
We’ll see. I don’t want to rush to judgment but I must acknowledge that the words of the guy who denounced it, that he will present proof against the players involved, in the plural, doesn’t bode well for Tonali.
Well said.
So in this case there are allegedly three players, from different clubs. Do they share inside information with each other? Or in a worst-case scenario are they throwing games and they bet on each other’s games, not their own?
Then there is the other more innocent explanation: they are just addicted to the thrill and are too stupid to see the risk.
Yes, I think that’s why the rules seek to curb ALL betting on one’s own discipline, not just bets that your own team will lose or draw – because there is always the possibility of coordinating with someone else in order to keep plausible deniability. So the rules are correct in curbing all betting regardless of what kind of result you’re betting on, and for what team.
About addiction to the thrill, yes, we know that some people are addicted to gambling and it is actually a kind of mental illness that is codified by the psychiatric associations. So, yes, this could be something more innocent than a scam to throw games and make money.
Regardless, even if there is no evil intention, it is something very stupid for a professional player to be involved with. If Tonali did participate, there are two possibilities: he did it with evil intent in which case I will lose ALL respect for him, or he did it innocently out of addiction to the thrill, and I will only partially lose respect for him: even if I won’t lose respect to the same degree as I’d lose for someone throwing games, I’d still consider Tonali to be extremely stupid for doing something like this, and I do praise intelligence and dislike stupid people.
Again, this said, let’s wait and see if Tonali’s participation is proven. Innocent until proven guilty.
I’m not surprised, he is in a zebra kit now, so basically Juventus of EPL.
lets not forget the fact that this fabrizio corona guy is a blackmailer to football players and clubs.. so, I seriously doubt this guy testimony and credibility tho’
Well, he seems to be right at least regarding Fagioli who has acknowledged that indeed he placed bets, and Corona is promising to present detailed proof, so it doesn’t bode well for the other two players.
The other disappointing aspect of this, is that Italian soccer being perceived as corrupt (rightly or wrongly) hurts the entire league. People abroad are then less likely to follow Serie A if they are convinced that the fix is in, which hurts TV fees, merchandise sales, etc. This is another reason why the FIGC must punish this practice anytime it is proven.
Hasn’t hurt the EPL which has had three players suspended this year for betting. Toney, Paqueta, and Toffolo
Ummm let’s wait until due process takes its course 🤷♂️
It is to be noted that Corona, the accuser, is a known Interista. It’s peculiar that the players accused were from Juve, Milan and Roma.
More details have surfaced: it seems like Corona is accusing Tonali of betting on Milan games. Darn.
Damn wow that’s not good (if true ofc)
Not good. Now it’s official and no longer just a report. Sandro was served today with papers from the FIGC and excluded from the Azzurra. Damn!